Circular knitting machine



Oct. 9, 1945. H. H. HOLMES ETAL 2,386,314

C'IRCULAR KPIIITING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l WW .J...

V ATTORNEY tion upon by selecting means.

Patented Oct. 9, 1945 Henry Harold Holmes and JohnCyril Herbert Hurd, Leicester, England, assignors to'Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a

British company Application July'17, 1943, Serial No. 495,148 In GreatBritain July Zl, 1942 This invention relates to circular knitting machines, and concerns those of the kind furnished with patterning mechanism comprising, in combination, a grooved or tricked bed or carrier, in-

dependently movable instrumentalities in said,

bed or carrier formed suchwise as to be adapted to provide patterning butts which are contrastin-gly formed or/and disposed in difierent positions, and means for action selectively upon the butts whereby the operation of the instrumentalities can be automatically varied in a prear-,

ranged manner for effecting variations as regards the pattern or fancy efiects produced in knitted fabric, all as now well understood by those acquainted with the knitting art.

Broadly, the invention is applicable both toplain circular, i. e. non-rib, machines having but a single needle cylinder and to circular rib knitting machines of the kind concerned. In this latter respect the invention may, for instance, be applied to circular rib knitting machines of the type comprising double cylinders arranged coaxially and eachadapted to contain needles, or needles and associated jacks or sliders. As examples of such machines may be mentioned those of the characteristic type employing superposed needle cylinders and equipped with double-ended needles operable by sliders whereby needles can be transferred from one cylinder to the other for the purpose of changing from plain knitting to rib knitting and vice versa, and it is principally to such machines that the present invention is intended for application without, however, being limited in this particular respec Furthermore, it is primarily the intention to apply the invention to circular knitting machines of the characteristic type referred to equipped with at least two sets of respectively difierent patterning instruments prearranged in the same grooved or tricked dial mounted within the needle cylinders concentrically therewith, said instruments, or jacks associated therewith, being provided with patterning butts suchwise that when assembled they present banks'or groups of such butts respectively in different planes for ac- Thus, for example, we are aware of a previously proposed machine of this type equipped with Claims.

sembled' the jacks present banks'or groups of such butts respectively in difierent planes for action upon by respective selecting cams. Now

ill?

in this particular prior arrangement the forward end of each selector jack acts against a shoulder on thecorresponding instrument or guide, and at its rear end the said jack is formed with a rightangular extension upon which the patterning butts are formed. 'l'hese buttsare provided at respectively diiierent levels so as to be located in correspondingly different planes heightwise. At the or each feed of the machine there is a cam for selecting pelerine instruments and another cam serving to select the lap or wrap thread guides, each of these selecting cams being movable vertically into difierent planes. For convenience in operation, the patterning butts are divided into upper and lower groups, the butts of one of these two groups serving the pelerine instruments and the butts of the other group serving-the'thread guides. ,The movements of the selecting cams at the or each feed are restricted, each cam being movable only to such an extentas to enable it, to be moved into any one of the planes of the butts in the corresponding group. This arrangement, however, has certaindisadvantages. For instance, to accommodate the right-angular extensions of the selector jacks it is necessary to make vertical cuts in the inner wall of the dial, these cuts extending down wardlyand at right angles with respect to the radially extending horizontal tricks or grooves formed in the upper face of the dial for reception of the pelerine instruments andlap or wrap thread guides. That is to say, in addition to being'cut with tricks or grooves in the customary manner, the dial has also to be cut internally, and this internal cutting is a diflicult process, es-

pecially having regard to the fact that the spacing'of the tricks or grooves is closest at the inner wall; Moreover, by reason of the inner vertical edges of the aforesaid right-angular extensions coming into contact with the bottomsof the vertical cuts, the selector jacks cannot readily be withdrawn by being pulled straight out of the dial,- Added to these difliculties, the tail butts provided on the right-angular extensions take up more space than is desirable.

The primary object of the presentinvention,

therefore, is to provide a circular knitting ma--' chine furnished with an improved patterning arrangement designed to overcome the foregoing difficulties in the particular mechanism just described. Bearing-in mind its broader aspects, however,

arate sets or groups of butts, and there are means for action upon one of said sets or groups to effect a general selection of the instrumentalities and additional means for action upon the same as viewed in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2 and with a cam ring removed to reveal a fragmentary portion of the dial.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

Referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that the machine comprises a rotary bottom or plain cylinder l and a superimposed rotary top or rib cylinder 2, and is equipped with doubleended latch needles such as 3 which are oper- 'able by means of bottom and top sliders 4 and other set or group to efiect a further selection or separation of the selected instrumentalities.

Instead, therefore, of having a single set or group of patterning butts at one location around the machinecapable of producing the particular number of selections required, the idea nowis to provide an arrangementin which the butts are in effect divided into two smaller setscr groups provided at respectively different loca tions and capable of effecting between them at least as great a number of selections as with a single and larger set or group of butts. One of the sets or groups of butts'in the improved arrangement is consequently employed to effect what may be regarded .as a primary selection'of the instrumentalities', while the other or auxiliary setor group is used to effect a secondary selection or a separation by partially neutralising or otherwise modifying the said primary'selection. In this way it is possible to achieve economy in space by a more convenient disposition of the patterning butts and the associated means for action thereupon. Moreover, by varying the selections made at successive feeds of a'multifeeder machine, the capabilities of the machine for patterning or designing would be considerable. 1

The instrumentalities to be selectedmay be all of the same kind. Preferably, however, instru mentalities of one kind are arranged in'the same grooved or tricked bed or carrier together with instrumentalities of another kind or otherkinds, in which instance one set of butts common to all of the instruments,- or to jacks associated therewith, may conveniently be utilised fora general selection of the said instruments, whilst other butts on the latter may be adapted for co-operation' with appropriate means to effect a separation of the selected instruments of one kind from the selected instruments of the otherkind, or kinds, as the case may be.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into prac-, tical eifect, a specific example thereof, being an improvement in the previously proposed patterning mechanism aforesaid designed to achieve the primary object hereinbefore specified, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

a Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of a circular links and links knitting machine as is necessary to illustrate the application of the improved patterning mechanism thereto,'

'Figure 2 is a plan view showing cams in a portion of the dial cam systems, with the dial cam plate removed, and a few of the instruments of both kinds adapted to be actuated by the said cams, and a Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the 5 respectively whereby needles can be transferred from one cylinder to the other, as occasion demands.

In the, example depicted there is a plurality of pelerine instruments 6 arranged together with lap or wrap thread guides I in radial tricks or grooves Smformed in the upper face of a horizontally disposed rotary dial 8 which is mounted Within and concentrically with the rotary needle cylinders I and 2. The pelerine instruments may be interspersed with lap or wrap thread guides in the dial 8, or the said instruments and guides may be prearranged in definite groups or panels, according to requirements. Each of the pelerine instruments is of blade-like form and at its oper ative end is laterally ofiset soas to have an arched formation 6a the opposite ends of which .are in alignment with the remainder of the blade. The tip 6b of the instrument is in the form of anib and it also has a loop engaging shoulder to at a suitable distance from the tip. If desired, and as shown in Figure-2, the pelerine instruments may be used in pairs, i. e. left hand and right hand. Each of the lap or wrap thread guides I is also a blade-like form and is recessed at its lower edge as at la in the region of its operative end suchwise as to provide a downwardly directed right-angular extension lb which 40 is bent laterally and thereby obliquely disposed with respect to the main portion of the guide (see Figure 2). The extension has holes 10 appropriately disposed therein for the passage of a design thread.

At their rear, 1. c. inner, ends both the pelerine instruments 8 and the lap or wrap thread guides I have patterning butts 9 thereon arranged so as to present a single bank or group of tail butts for action upon by selecting cams. These butts are provided at different levels so as to be lo cated in correspondingly different planes heightwise. If desired, each pelerine instrument and each lap or wrap thread guide may initially be formed with a full complement of frangible butts 9 like that shown in Figure 1 and which butts can be readil broken off according to requirements. The important point to note here is that since the single bank or group of tail butts '9 is to serve for selection of both the pelerine instruments and the lap or wrap thread guides; the total height of the full complement of butts need not exceed, or at any rate substantially exceed, the width of the blades of the said instruments and guides; thus, referring to Figure 1, the height h of the full complement of six tail butts 9 only slightly exceeds the width to of the instruments S and guides 1. This enables the butts to be so disposed that they will not prevent the instruments and guides from being completely withdrawn longitudinally from their tricks or grooves 8a. At each feed of the machine (assuming it to be a multi-feeder machine) there are provided two selecting cams Ill and H spaced apart somewhat circumferentially.. .Each of theseselecting cams. is horizontally dispcsedand movable vertically under suitable control-into anyone of thedifferent planes occupied ..-by the tail butts. Conveniently. the said cams'may be pattern controlledthrough any suitable intermediateconnections, such as those indicated at Hand it in Figure 1, froma pattern device or unit, not shown. Thus, as will be understood, each selecting cam is common to the pelerine instruments 6 andthe lapor wrap thread guides 1. Consequentl whenever one of the selecting cams at the feed is rendered operative by being moved into one of the aforesaid planes-all of the instruments and guides having atail butt 9 at the corresponding height will be selected an advanced, i. e. pushed radially outwards'by the said cam. The importance of this is that by providing tail butts. in, say, six different planes heightwise it. is possible to achieve six different selections of the pelerine instruments 6 and also six. selections of the lap or wrap thread guides I, incontradistinction to the particular prior arrangement hereinbefore described wherein tail butts in, twelve different planes would be necessary to achieve a similar result. I

.The upper. edge of each pelerine instrument andlap or wrap thread guide is so formed as to provide thereon an upstanding butt, the butts M on. the said instruments being. short, and those, IE, on the thread guides long. If desired, theinstruments 6 andguides I may be so arranged in the dial 8 that the short and long upstanding butts alternate, although, of course, this is by no means essential.

A dial cam plate 16 is fixedly supported immediately above the dial 8 and on its underside is furnished with cams, hereinafter tobe described with reference to Figure 2, for'action upon the upstanding butts l4 and I5. Both the short and the long upstanding butts are all norma ly located in a common track I! from which they are diverted selectively by the selecting'cams for admission to dial cam systems; whereb the requisite advancing andretracting movements are imparted to selected instruments and guides and to'which track the said butts are always returned for re-selection.

. Consider firstthe operation of the lap or wrap thread guides l at one of the feeds, assuming that all of the upstanding butts are initially in thecommon track !1 and that the needle cylinders and the dial 8 are rotating together in the direction of tire arrow B in each of Figures 2 and 3. If, now, the two selecting cams at the feed are preselected and rendered operative, the 'cam in will first act upon all of the tail butts 9 in the appropriate plane thereby effecting a primary selection both of pelerine instruments and lap or wrap thread guides. As a result, the instruments and guides so selected will be actuated and niovedradially outwards to an extent sufiicient to bring their upstanding butts into the range of a combined advancing and retracting cam 13 formed with an appropriately inclined advancing edge I812. The underside of the forward portion of this cam is, however, cut away and reduced in thickness at l8b with the result that only the long butts l5 will be landed onto the advancingedge .l8a,-the short butts It being missed so that they merely pass idly beneath the cut away portion. This will be more clearly appreciated from a consideration of Figures 2 and 3 in each of which one of the long butts which has been landed onto theedge l8a is designated b the numeral I5 while a short butt passing idly beneath thecut away portion. is

indicated at HP. As a consequence, the selected lap or wrap thread guides 1 will be fully projected by the cam l8 to carry their embroidery threads across the needle circle NC from the inside to the outside thereof. in well known manner, while any further advance of the pelerine instruments 6 will be effectively prevented. A fully advanced lap or wrap thread guide is indicated at I in Figure 2. Adjacent to the aforesaid cut away portion, the cam I8 is formed with an oppositely inclined retracting edge ..|8c adapted for action only upon the short butts Hi to restore the pelerineinstruments 6 to the common track H at this point. As will be appreciated, therefore, the primary selection of the pelerineinstrrunents is neutralised by the thickest portion of the combined advancing and retracting cam is, leaving onl the selected lap or wrap thread guides to be operated in known manner. After being fully projected in the manner described, the selected lap or wrap thread guides are fully retracted by contact of the appropriate longbutts IS with an adjacent cam I9 which latter functions to restore said butts to the common track I! for re-selection.

Selected pelerine instruments are thereafter operated at the same feed. To this end. all of the tail butts 9 in a desired plane are next acted upon by the second selecting cam ll so that the corresponding instruments and guides willbe selected and partially, advanced. By reason of this selection, the short and long upstanding butts Ill) I4 and I5 respectively on the selected instruments and guides are brought into the range of superposed cam portions l9 and 20 whereby the said long butts l5 are restored to the common track IT to render elected thread guides inoperative, and the short butts M are partially advanced so as to push for-ward the corresponding pelerine instrument to an extent just sufficient to enableyarn to be collected, i. e. laid over, their nibs 6b to form sinker loops. In Figure 2 the pair of pelerine instruments having short butts marked I4 are partially advanced, these instruments being subsequently fully advanced by a cam 2| to effect expansion of the formedsinker loop laterally in both directions for transfer to appropriate needles 3 in the bottom needle cylinder I. The upper one, 19, of the two superposed cam portions is formed with an appropri ately inclined retracting edge l9a and is supported by the lower cam portion 28 at such a height as to miss the short butts I l, whereas the said lower cam portion is formed with an oppositely inclined advancing edge 20a. The lower cam portion 20 may, as shown in Figure 3, be rebated or recessed to receive the upper cam portion 19, the two portions being rigidly secured together. Alternatively, these two cam portions may be made in one piece. In the result, therefore,the machine just described is such that at each feed a primary or general selection of the pelerine instruments and lap or Wrap thread guides can be effected at each of two circumferentially spaced points, the selection of the pelerine instruments being neutralised at one of said points to leave only selected thread guides operative, and the selection of the thread guides being similarly neutralised at the other point to K leave only selected pelerine instruments operative.

The specific form of the improved patterning mechanism herein described by way ofexample is applicable to the production of any patterned knittedfabric comprising, in combination, pelerinc stitch effects andlap or wrap or embroidery thread effects. -The mechanism may be arranged to produce the pelerine loops or stitches and the lap or wrap or embroidery stitches either in direct association 'or separately in different wales of the knitted fabric.

Compared with. the prior arrangement concorned:v the particular constructional form of the invention herein described has tail butts in only half the number ofplanes, and yet the capabilitiesof the machine for patterning are not in anywise reduced.

What we claim then is:

1. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, independently movable pelerin'e instruments prearranged in said bed, lap thread guides also prearranged in the bed together with the pelerine instruments, said instruments and, guides having patterning butts which are :divided into separate primary andsecondary groups, means for action selectively upon the primary butts to effect a general selection amongst all of the pelerine instruments and lap thread guides, and means for thereafter co-operating with the secondary butts suchwise that selected pelerine instruments are restored'to their original inoperative positions, thereby leaving the selected lap thread guides to be operated as required.

2. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, independently movable pelerinc instruments prearranged in said bed, lap

thread guides also prearranged in the bed together with the pelerine instruments, said instruments and guides having patterningbutts which are divided into separate primary and secondary groups, means for action selectively upon the primary butts to effect a general selection amongst all of the pelerineinstrument and lap thread guides, and means for thereafter co-opcrating with the secondary butts suchwise that selected lap thread guides are restored to their original inoperative positions, thereby leaving the selected pelerine instruments to be operated as required.

3. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, independently movable transfer instruments prearranged in said bed, lap thread guides also prearranged in the bed together with the transfer instruments, means at each of two circumferentially spaced points for efiecting a primary selection amongst all of the said instruments and guides, means for neutralising the selection of the transfer instruments at one of said points to'leave only selected thread guides operative, and means for similarly neu tralising the selection of the thread guides at the other point to leave only selected transfer instruments operative.

4. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively diiierent kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed, said instruments having associated therewith primary selecting butts so arranged as to provide series of such butts respectively in diiierent planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of I planes as the butts of the other kind of said instruments, and secondary butts which are adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, means for action selectively upon the said primary butts to eliect a general selection amongst all of the instruments of both kinds, and means for thereafter co-operating with the secondary buttsso thatv selected instruments of one kind are restored to their original inoperative positions thereby leaving the selected instruments of the other kind to be operated as required.

,5. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively different kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed, said instruments having associatedtherewith primary selecting butts so arranged as to provide series of such butts respectively in difierent planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of planes as thebutts-of the other kind of said instruments, and secondary butts which are adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, at least one selecting cam which is movable into any one of the different planes for action selectively upon primary butts to effect an initial selection of the instruments, and means for action upon the secondary butts to efiect a subsequent separation of the selected instruments of one kind from the selected instruments of another kind.

6. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively different kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed,said instruments being formed with primary selecting butts so arranged as'to provide series of such butts respectively in different planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of planes as the butts of the other kind of said instruments and long and short secondary butts adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, means for action selectively upon the primary butts to chest a general selection amongst all of the instruments of both kinds, and cam means for thereafter so co-operating with the secondary butts that selected long butt instruments are advanced while initially selected short butt instruments are restored to their original inoperative positions.

7. ma circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively different kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed, said instruments being formed with primary selecting butts so arranged as to provide series of such butts respectively in different planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of planes as the butts of the other kind of said instruments and long andshort secondary butts adapted for oper ating the two kinds of instruments, selecting cams for action selectively upon the primary butts to effect a general selection amongst all of the instruments of both kinds, cams providing between them a common track in which both the long and the short secondarybutts are normally located and to which track said secondary butts are always returned for re-selection, and a cam system whereby the requisite advancing and retracting movements are imparted to selected instruments and to which the corresponding secondary butts are admitted upon diversion from the common track by co-operation thereof with the selecting cams, for the purpose herein described.

8. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively difierent kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed, said instruments being formed with primary selecting butts so arranged as to provide series of such butts respectively in difierent planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the-same series of planes as the butts'of the other kind of said instruments and long and short secondary butts adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, selecting cams for action selectively upon the primary butts to efiect a general selection amongst all of the instruments of both kinds, cams providing between them a common track in which both the long and the short secondary butts are normally located and to which track said secondary butts are always returned for re-selection, and a cam system whereby the requisite advancing and retracting movements are imparted to selected instruments and to which the corresponding secondary butts are admitted upon diversion from the common track by co-operation thereof with the selecting cams-said system including a combined advancing and retracting cam a portion of which latter is reduced in thickness so that only long butts will he landed onto the advancing edge of the cam, the short butts being missed and engaged by an oppositely inclined retracting edge on the said cam, for the purpose herein specified.

9. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a grooved bed, two respectively difierent kinds of independently movable instruments interspersed in said bed, said instruments being formed with primary selecting butts so arranged as to provide series of such butts respectively in difierent planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of planes as the butts of the other kind of said instruments and long and short secondary butts adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, two selecting cams for action selectively upon the primary butts to effect a general selection amongst all of the instruments of both kinds, cams providing between them a common track in which both the long and the short secondary butts are normally located and to which track said secondary butts are always returned for re-selection, a combined advancing and retracting cam into the range of which predetermined secondary butts are moved upon diversion from the common track by oooperation thereof with one of the selecting cams, a portion of said combined cam being reduced in thickness so that only long butts will be landed onto the advancing edge of the cam while the short butts are missed and engaged by an O positely inclined retracting edge on the said cam, and further cams into the range of which secondary butts are subsequently moved by engagement with the other of the two selecting cams, said last mentioned cams being adapted to restore long butts to the common track while at the same time advancing the short butts, for the purpose herein specified.

10. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a radially grooved dial, two respectively different kinds of independently movable blade-like instruments mounted in the grooves in said dial,-

said instruments being formed with (a) primary butts so arranged at the tail ends of the instruments as to provide a series of such butts respectively in difierent planes but with the butts of one kind of instruments in the same series of planes as the butts of the other kind of said instruments so that there is a single bank of rimary butts the total height of which does not substantially exceed the width of the blades of the said instruments suchwise as to facilitate complete withdrawal of the latter from the grooves as occasion demands, and (b) secondary butts which are adapted for operating the two kinds of instruments, at least one selecting cam which is movable into any one of the aforesaid planes for action selectively upon primary butts to effect an initial selection of the instruments, and means for action upon the secondary butts to effect a subsequent separation of the selected instruments of one kind from the selected instruments of another kind.

HENRY HAROLD HOLMES. JOHN CYRIL HERBERT I-IURD. 

